The show where now the name SHIELD is only said once every five episodes. (Image Courtesy of: moviepilot.com)

Quick Take:Agents of SHIELD Season 3 is an action focused sci-fi experience with quite a bit of time given to Inhumans and Marvel lore. While it is often exciting and funny, the series stumbles a bit in making this season personal for a well built cast of characters that is only growing larger. With emotional acting and solid writing, this season is solid but does not match up to the series' best.

***Agents of SHIELD Season 3 just recently aired its season finale, and this review is spoiler heavy. Therefore, all readers who plan to watch the show are expected to have seen up to that season finale. If you have not seen all the way to the latest episode of Agents of SHIELD and do not want to be spoiled on the series, do not read past this point. You should probably also have seen every MCU film so far to avoid minor spoilers.***

The first season was the demolition of SHIELD. The second season was the remnants of SHIELD vs. Inhumans. The third season was basically the rise of the Inhumans. This entire season was about a splurge of new Inhumans including one indomitable force, the god worshipped by Hydra.

Unfortunately, that separation that has come with each developing season has led to a larger and larger disconnect between the characters and threats. The first was all about SHIELD and betrayal which made it truly personal particularly with Grant Ward's betrayal. The second saw two sides of SHIELD in conflict as well as Skye/Daisy's family at the forefront.

This season began with Ward again at the forefront with Hydra as the threat and Simmons had been stranded on an alien planet. It was exciting and effective, but, with the death of Ward as well as the off-screen destruction of Hydra in the middle of the season, all that was left was the imposing but distant threat of Hive.

While the story of the season was solid all throughout, that distance made sure this season could not quite match up to the second half of season one or all of season two. The writers even seemed to notice this in their work as they added the promise of a major character death in the home stretch just to add a personal touch which was a bit contrived.

Some of the best parts of this season included the introduction of Lash and the reveal that he was May's former husband Dr. Andrew Garner, Grant Ward's final evil actions before his death, everything on the planet Maveth, the first rendition of Secret Warriors (unfortunately underused though also likely to be changed up and developed over time), and the turning of Daisy by Hive plus the fallout.

In the middle of those great moments though, the show lagged a bit with several overlong episodes and moves that often didn't allow any new characters to develop fast enough while also not giving the main cast too many individual central episodes.

It was also noticeable how much this series has separated itself in the MCU. While it still had its tie in episode with Captain America: Civil War with SHIELD's Inhumans dealing with the Sokovia Accords, there are so few strings holding the series together with the films now. Where are the surprise cameos that we were getting in season one? It feels more like fan service now when Coulson mentions the Avengers occasionally.

A face no one can love, partially because he'd kill anyone close enough to him to say they love him. (Image Courtesy of: denofgeek.com)

Chloe Bennet has evolved extensively through this series as an actress as Daisy. She goes through the most emotionally in the home stretch of the season and makes every turn effective. Not only did she impress playing the villain, she also has truly found her action chops, easily shining with the series' best fight scenes.

Ming-Na Wen and Clark Gregg are still quality veteran actors, but they seem to get less and less to do with each season as the younger actors become most central. May and Coulson's major stories involved their love interests with Coulson turning to rage in the midst of the ATCU leader Rosalind Price's death and May coping with the betrayal of Andrew. Both do well, but the stories are too limited for their talent.

While Hive was largely a lackluster villain until the finale, Brett Dalton's performance was the standout of the season both as a truly determined and dangerous Grant Ward and as the vicious, all powerful Hive. His nuanced work as Hive particularly stood out even when the script made the villain rather one dimensional. He'll be missed in the series going forward.

Fitz Simmons officially became a romance this season. While Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge have their best acting performances yet, their characters are marginalized a bit by this romance which, while cute, still feels like a sibling relationship unnecessarily turned romantic. Henstridge's performance in the episode "4,722 Hours" is the best one episode performance of the season.

Adrianne Palicki and Nick Blood are the charismatic support of the team for the time they are with the team though it feels a bit too much like they know they're being written off. Bobbi and Lance are good characters, but they were not big enough for their own TV show and were missed in the last episodes.

Henry Simmons was almost randomly added to the group in season two, but Mack has become the heart of the team thanks to his likable performance. The best dynamic of the season is his partnership with Bennet. Luke Mitchell doesn't quite ever make Lincoln as likable as he should be, but he's solid in the role and his death is heartbreaking in the last episode.

A few of the welcome additions this season to the cast included Constance Zimmer (Entourage) as Rosalind Price whose character deserved more than her death even if it was a shocking and effective moment, Powers Boothe (Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones) who was fantastic as the last head of Hydra for the series, and John Hannah (The Mummy) as Dr. Holden Radcliffe who was hilarious in almost every scene. Also, I would welcome Adrian Pasdar's (Heroes) Glenn Talbot becoming a regular as he kept getting better with more screen time.

Well, I'm a mutant, but I guess that counts in the MCU. (Image Courtesy of: comingsoon.net)

While the writing for the season faltered occasionally, it hit home at the most crucial moments. The comedy has always been solid with the quick hitting nature consistent from season to season. The drama though particularly hit home at certain moments this season.

Some of the best episodes this season included a writing credit for Jed Whedon or Craig Titley. Overall, the best episodes this season were "4,772 Hours" (which is close to the best episode the series has aired), "Closure", "Spacetime", "The Team", and "Ascension".

The direction was largely tight this season. There were a few truly fantastic action scenes along the way that made this a memorable season. "Spacetime" in particular had an action scene so impressively done that it was only helped by being shown repeatedly.

If there is one thing on the production side that has begun to falter lately, it's the special effects. The series has suffered a bit for ratings as time has passed which probably means the special effects budget has been pulled back. It showed at times particularly with Lash and the CG used for superpowers. The main effects that stood positively were those used sparingly like the true face of Hive and Hellfire's chain whip.

This certainly wasn't a bad season. At times, it was incredible, but, in sum, it felt like the series went too far into its own lore and lost what mattered most: the characters. We needed more development of the SHIELD team not just into their backstories but forward as individuals.

Daisy has become the series's strongest focus, but she can't be the only one going through hardship. The closing moments of this season showed Daisy isolated and away from SHIELD which is a strong opportunity for the rest of the team to take center stage while they try to bring her back. Inhumans, Hydra, or SHIELD, whatever the threat, it needs to be personal to these characters that have not become the hook for a series only loosely about SHIELD as an organization.